Machine for removing the fleshy matter from vegetable leaves



(No Model.) 5 Shee'ts-Sheet 1. J. H. BROWN. MACHINE FOR REMOVING THE PLESHY MATTER FROM VEGETABLE LEAVES.

No. 471,097. Patented Mar, 22, 1892.

A. CMLZWAI.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets Sheet 2. J. H. BROWN. MACHINE FOR REMOVING'THE PLESHY MATTER FROM VEGETABLE LEAVES.

No. 471,097. Patented Mar. 22, 1892.-

BRO HYM.

' (No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 3. WN.

J. H. MACHINE FOR REMOVING THE FLES ATTER PROM VEGETABLE LEAVES.

Patented Mar. 22,1892.

KMF LMN Ema 1 x A x U 5 sheets sheet 4.

(No Model.)

J H BROWN MACHINE FOR REMOVING THE FLESHY MATTER FROM VEGETABLE LEAVES. v

Patented Mar. 22, 1892.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

' J. H. BROWN. I MACHINE FOR REMOVING THE FLESHY MATTER FROM VEGETABLE LEAVES.

No. 471,097. Patented Mar. 22, 1892.

Wm. M @AEM -NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

JOHN H. BROWN, OF NE\'V YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN FIBER ASSOCIATION, OF GEORGIA.

MACHINE FOR REMOVING THE FLESHY MATTER FROM VEGETABLE LEAVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,097, dated March 22, 1892.

Applieationfiled July 27,1889. Serial No. 318,815. (No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. BROWN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Machines for Removing the Fleshy Matter from Vegetable Leaves, of which the following is a full, true, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement IO in apparatus by which a large proportion of the fleshy matter can be removed from leaves of plants, and is especially applicable to the removal of the fleshy matter from the leaves of Maguey,known as the Agave Americana I5 and it consists in a combination of crushing rollers and brushes, as will be readily under stood from the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a lateral elevation on the driving side of my mechanism; Fig. 2, a planview; Fig. 3, a section through Fig. 2 on the line a a; Fig. 4, an end view of my apparatus at the delivery end; Fig. 5, a section through Fig. 1 on the line y y, looking to- 2 5 ward the feeding-apron; and Fig. 6, the same section as Fig. 3, showing some of the parts removed and the position of the strippingbrushes.

A represents a feedingapron, upon which 0 the leaf to be stripped is fed. The apron may be supported upon rollers B B. The machine itself consists, as shown, of five pairs of crushing-rollers O O O O 0 which successively approach each other more closely, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. These rollers are driven from the driving-shaft D, having worm-wheels gearing with gear-wheels E. Wheels F, upon the same shafts at the other side of the machine, in turn drive wheels F, attached to the 40 upper rollers. The upper rollers are by preferance made adjustable by boxes moving in slots, as in the ordinary \vringingmachines, and may be provided with counterbalancingsprings G and screw handles H. In front of the last pair of crushing-rollers O O the stripping-brushes J operate in the reverse direction, as indicated by the arrows, from the movement of the leaf. One or more of them may be put in operation, as desiredas, for

50 instance, in front of each pair of crushingrollers. Their structure is preferably as indicated in Fig. 2, having spiral lines of bristles or scrapers surrounding the central cylinder. They are caused to revolve by gear- Wheels F, meshing with the upper gear-wheels F, and are adjustable by the pedals P. The last brush K revolves in the same direction as the upper rollers, and in addition to its stripping function tends to feed the leaves down the platform N. This brush is driven by a pinion K, engaging with the gear-wheels of the last roller of the lower set of rollers, as shown in Fig. 1. Brushes may also be employed, operating beneath the leaf in its passage, as indicated in Fig. 6, where the brush L operates in conjunction with the brush J, and the brush L operates in conjunction with the presser-surface M, made adjustable by a screw or screws, as shown.

The brushes L and L may be driven by the gears 87 88 thereon, meshing with the gear F of the roller 0 which is located between them, or by any other suitable mechanism.

The upper brush J may be adjustable by levers R, as indicated in Fig. 6.

The operation can now be readily understood. Assuming the leaf of the Maguey plant to be the one desired to be stripped, it is fed upon the feeding-apron A and then gradually 8o drawn between the rollers, which are adjusted to be successively nearer each other. In this way the leaf is continually drawn along and the fleshy matter is crushed out of it. The brushes J or L operate in conjunction to strip off the fleshy matter, as it is expressed, and a final brush K may aid in this operation and also in the feeding operation.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 0 1. The combination, in a machine for removing the pulp from fibrous material, with a succession of gradually-approaching pairs of rollers continuously driven to carry the material forward in the same direction, of a 5 brush in front of one of said pairs of rollers revolving in the opposite direction to the movement of the material, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a machine for reno moving the pulp from fibrous material, with a succession of gradually-approaching pairs of rollers Continuously driven to carry the material forward in the same direction, of a brush in front of the last pair of rollers revolving in the opposite direction to the movement of the material, and another brush at the end of the machine having its acting surface moving in the same direction as the travel of the material, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in a machine for removing the pulp from fibrous material, with a succession of gradually-approaching pairs of rollers continuously driven to carry the material forward in the same direction, of a brush in front of one of said pairs revolving in the opposite direction to that of the travel of the material through the machine, and a brush at the end of the machine revolving in the same direction as the travel of the material, substantially as described.

4. The combination, in a machine for removing the pulp from fibrous leaves, of rollers C O and upper and lower brushes J L, located in front of them and Whose eifectivc surfaces move in the opposite direction from the movementof travel of the material through the machine, substantially as described.

5. The combination, in a machine for removing the pulp from fibrous materiahof rollers C C and brush J, having spirally-arranged brushingsurfaces', substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN ll. BROWN.

.Vitnesses:

H. CAUTAN'I, \VM. A. POLLOCK. 

